recent stuff

the leaves are/have been beautiful. I have been traveling around (in my own town) to see Momiji and Haze in different places to see the reds. I even got some "modeling" pictures taken by a photographer who saw me and asked to take my picture- in some poses with the scenery. My fee was that he give me a couple of pictures after he developed them.

I have been hiking quite a bit... tomorrow, if all goes according to plan, will be the 5th hill in 4 weekends... I was gonna call it quits, but heading back to the local mountain with an old buddy. It is getting cold and it is time for snowboarding too. I am looking forward to riding this season. I just have to continue treating my body well.

That can be done if I eat right. I just got another batch of organic, local goodness and a new recipe for chicken soup/ cream stew. List of recently-tried food including but not limited to: Basashi ([raw] horse sashimi), sea cucumber, crab and whatever else I have tried during random eating parties over the past three weeks.

A bunch of friend here have added this as a link to their blog, so I will do the same... check em out!

Can you tell what my attitude is as I write this? I bet you can.

shots of autumn

(Like snowflakes, leaves have a tendency to land exactly where they are supposed to)

(Tiny momiji leaves have transformed and continued the ever-important life cycle. Again, landing exactly where they are.)

para reconocer el presente

Goodbye facebook, tootles blog, ciao time/energy-consuming technological “advances”…. Hello life. How have you been? It’s been far too long, really. It’s funny you know. I got caught up in the drama and you have been there laughing alongside me the whole time. I thought I heard a distinct chuckle, but I couldn't quite recognize it. But you stood by me, laughing, waiting for the time when I would wake up again. It’s funny because I don’t remember falling asleep, but I guess I dozed off sometime in between Chile and the United States. Or, somewhere in Japan? I can’t quite gauge the time frame, but it was a nice nap. And I have woken up and it’s great to rubbing my eyes off in the hopes of finding full awareness soon.

The moment, how I have missed you too. You are always there and you are always gone. But you last for an eternity, it seems so awkward that I have gone so long recently without noticing you. Without acknowledging you. Without accepting you… for the timeless clock that you are. But, I am beginning to see you. Not hold on to you. Not remember you in a previous form. But to accept you for your presentation in each measurement of time. Your forms are gorgeous, why didn’t I see this before? Yeah, holding on to the past… and thinking about your change in the future… I completely forgot/was sleeping/unaware to the present. Amazing. Amazing = you and amazing to be coming to consciousness to recognize you too.

Wow, these leaves were really pretty! And boy, does Eric Clapton really jam!

Are you off your rocker? Am I? Are we even rocking?

watching or dreaming? Asleep and awake

A little bit of both. On my walk this morning, before the sun came up, of course, when it was freezing cold outside, maybe not freezing, but cold enough that frost delicately coated the windshields of cars whose owners had yet to wake up and drive them to work, I was "being" and "walking." I was observing myself walk along the path, on which cars have enough room to maneuver around each other and me without dipping off the side into the irrigation ditches, in the middle of a space occupied by the summer rice paddies, which have now given way to brown patches of land and the occasional small patch of winter vegetable like lettuce. And the sensation came to "me" that I wasn't in control of the body that was doing this walking. "I" was busy absorbing the world as it was at that early morning hour. "Ohayo Gozaimasu," said the man who had approached me walking the other way. I don't know if he said it on this particular morning or if it was another day, or if he said nothing and I imagined it as my eyes caught him in the front peripheral vision of my awareness, but i responded in kind with the Japanese version of "Good Morning." Back into the world of drama and fun, I started thinking immediately. Having forgotten that I was awake, I went back to sleep on my feet as I was sauntering along, before sunrise, and dreamed about things to do and life to plan. And then I woke back up and shared a laugh with the self that I current embody and allowed myself to stay awake until I got back home and felt the urge to feed the body that had transported me on this seemingly magical, out of body experience. Then, I fell back asleep and lived the day that I have lived before, resting and having fun until the moment when i could wake up again and start to live.